In the photo (from right to left): Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, carrying the EL AL Torah Scroll with EL AL CEO Eliezer Shkedi.

New York, NY – May 14, 2013 – Israel’s Chief Rabbis, the British Ambassador to Israel, as well as hundreds of guests and airline employees took part in a festive event to mark the completion of the writing of the EL AL Torah Scroll for the Unity of Israel. EL AL CEO Elyezer Shkedy, who initiated the writing of the Torah Scroll, said the project was motivated by a desire to help strengthen ties between the Jewish population in Israel and around the world.

Thousands of people have inscribed a letter in the Torah Scroll for the past three years, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's President Shimon Peres, Noble Prize winner Eli Weisel, spiritual leaders and EL AL customers. In Washington this past December, the Sefer Torah was signed by several US senators and members of Congress, including Joe Lieberman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Eric Cantor. At the United Nations, Israel’s Ambassador Ron Prosor also proudly added a letter to the Torah.

The Torah scroll, which contains 304,805 letters in 249 columns, will be kept in the synagogue on the EL AL campus at Ben Gurion International Airport and will accompany Israeli leaders on flights of national and historic significance.